JOHANNESBURG: The Southern African Development Community (SADC) should urge Zimbabwean authorities to show restraint and respect of the rule of law in the wake of a violent crackdown on post-election protests.

Four years after the disappearance of journalist Ahmed Rilwan, the criminal court has acquitted two suspects on trial for abducting him.

A Malaysian court has acquitted three government critics charged under the draconian Sedition Act A renown political cartoonist, a human rights lawyer and a parliamentarian were on trial for criticism of the government and judiciary’s political-motivated prosecution of former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim CIVICUS calls for sedition charges against others for their activism, to be dropped The government must also repeal the Sedition Act ahead of the UN human rights review in November

CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance and its partners Asia Democracy Network (ADN), Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Forum Asia, Instituto de Comunicación y Desarrollo (ICD), West African Human Rights Defenders Network, Experts for Security and Global Affairs Association, Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN),  European Civic Forum (ECF) and International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) call on the Singapore government to drop contempt charges against human rights activist, Jolovan Wham for his comments on social media criticising the judiciary.

Legitimacy of upcoming #Cambodia elections questioned as Hun Sen has narrowed democratic space by cracking down on opposition & journalists & attempting to silence #civilsociety https://t.

CIVICUS & @karapatan call for immediate & unconditional release of all detained #humanrights defenders & development workers, & for authorities to investigate & prosecute police & military members responsible for this gross abuse of power https://t.

Ré-imaginer la démocratie: à la recherche de voix réduites au silence   Appel Johannesburg, 3 juillet 2018 - Que signifie la démocratie pour vous? Comment les jeunes mettent-ils la démocratie en pratique dans votre communauté? Que considérez-vous comme une menace pour la démocratie aujourd'hui? Comment est votre démocratie idéale?  'Through Arts and Imagination' est un concours international qui vise à collecter des morceaux artistiques, originaux et créatifs de musique, de poésie, d'art et/ou de multimédia, dans lesquels le point de vue de la jeunesse est présenté autour du thème Ré-imaginer la démocratie.

Re-imaginar la democracia: en busca de voces silenciadas   Convocatoria Johannesburgo, 3 de julio de 2018 - ¿Qué significa para ti la democracia? ¿Cómo están poniendo en práctica la democracia los jóvenes en tu comunidad? ¿Qué consideras que supone una amenaza a la democracia de hoy en día? ¿Cómo es tu democracia ideal?  'Through Arts and Imagination' es un concurso internacional que busca recoger piezas artísticas, originales y creativas, de música, poesía, arte y/o multimedia, en las que se muestre el punto de vista de la juventud en torno al tema Re-imaginar la democracia.

Re-Imagining Democracy: in search of silenced voices   Call for Submissions Johannesburg, 3 July 2018 – What does democracy mean to you? How are youth in your community putting democracy into action? What do you see as threats to democracy today? What does your ideal democracy look like? ‘Through Arts and Imagination’ is a global contest seeking bold and original creative arts submissions – music, poetry, art, multimedia – that present youth perspectives on Re-imagining Democracy.

It is with a mix of sadness and appreciation that the CIVICUS Board of Directors announces that Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah will be stepping down from his role as Secretary General at the end of 2018.

A new proposed policy by the government of Nepal would further curtail the work of international and national non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in the country by tightening the state’s control over them.

President Muhammadu Buhari Aso Villa, Yakubu Gowon Crescent,  The Three Arms Zone, Asokoro,  Abuja, FTC, Nigeria Dear President Muhammadu Buhari, We at the Committee to Protect Journalists, a non-profit organization that champions press freedom internationally, and 18 other organizations, are writing to call for the release of journalist Jones Abiri, who has been held by Nigeria's Department of State Security (DSS) for nearly two years, and to call for DSS to be held accountable for its attacks against journalists in Nigeria.

Following the announcement of the United States withdrawal from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), a number of civil society organisations with offices in Geneva, the headquarters of UNHRC, offer their opinions on the resulting impact on the work of the Human Rights Council.

See who SCORES the highest #civicspace rating amongst the 32 countries competing in the #WorldCup: https://t.

One month after a horrific massacre of protesters in the occupied Palestinian territory, global civil society alliance, CIVICUS is urging accountability for the unacceptably high levels of lethal violence employed by Israeli security forces against demonstrations.

Inglés CIVICUS y @CoordinadoraCC exigen al presidente de #Nicaragua el cese inmediato de la violencia contra las protestas pacíficas que se están desarrollando en el país desde el pasado mes de abril.

5 June 2018 Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha Government House Pitsanulok Road, Dusit Bangkok 10300, Thailand   Re: Concerns regarding arrest and prosecution of peaceful protesters Dear Prime Minister, We are writing to you with regards to the recent arrest and charging of pro-democracy activists for their participation in a peaceful protest in Bangkok on 22 May 2018, the fourth anniversary of the military coup in Thailand.

To Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Geneva, Switzerland Excellencies, Ahead of the 38th session of the UN Human Rights Council (“HRC” or “the Coun­cil”), we write to you as a cross-re­gional group of non-governmental organizations to share our serious concerns over the sys­te­ma­tic, wide­spread and gross human rights violations that continue to be committed with impu­nity in Eritrea.

#Niger: This 25 May marks two months in detention of 26 activists and civil society members https://t.

French | Spanish The upcoming CIVICUS State of Civil Society Report, to be published in September 2018, will focus on the special theme of ‘Reimagining Democracy’.

In the lead up to the 14th general elections in Malaysia on 9 May, CIVICUS interviewed the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.

Spanish STATEMENT / More than 300 national and international NGOs condemn the violent repression of the demonstrations held in Nicaragua against the #INSS reforms: https://t.

Conditions for human rights defenders and journalists in Bangladesh are dire, and appear to be worsening according to the CIVICUS Monitor.

The sentencing of the six activists yesterday for peacefully expressing their opinions, illustrates the Vietnam authorities’ utter contempt for freedom of expression, said global civil society alliance, CIVICUS.

In a letter to the Ethiopian Prime Minister-designate, a coalition of over 40 civil society organisations express their concern regarding the recent arrests of journalists and human rights defenders State of emergency in #Ethiopia: 11 journalists & human rights defenders arrested as new Prime Minister appointed.

Civil society response to the Zero Draft of the UN´s Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration  There are over a quarter billion migrants and refugees in the world.

At the conclusion of International Civil Society Week 2017 (ICSW) on December 7th, more than 700 civil society leaders and activists from over 100 countries have called for climate change to be formally recognised as a primary driver of migration.

By Frances Eve, Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) and Cathal Gilbert, World Alliance for Citizen Participation, CIVICUS From 3-5 September, the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa met at the ninth BRICS summit.

Arabic | KurdishWe, the undersigned civil society organisations, commemorate the victims of enforced disappearances in Syria and support their families, urging the international community to support their demand to ensure justice, truth and reparation and the immediate release of all those enforcedly held in secret detention.

Español  BACKGROUND INFORMATION The Enabling Environment National Assessment (EENA), developed by CIVICUS and the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL), is a participatory, civil society-led and action-oriented research methodology.

CIVICUS Board Nominees The Nominations Committee was given the very challenging task of selecting  12 names from the nominations received, narrowing down the slate to collectively reflect the diversity and balance we seek for the CIVICUS Board in terms of geographic location, gender, age and experience, while endeavouring to ensure a measure of continuity between outgoing and incoming Boards.

Français | Español Nominations for appointments to the CIVICUS Board of Directors 19 June 2017 CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation is looking for nominations for election to its Board of Directors.

Joint statement by 61 Myanmar and international human rights organizations Concerned by reports that the Myanmar authorities will retain the criminal defamation provision of Section 66(d) during a review of the Telecommunications Law, 61 national and international human rights organizations are urging the Myanmar authorities, and in particular the Ministry of Transport and Communication and the Parliament, to ensure it is repealed in the amended law.

La alianza global de la sociedad civil CIVICUS y el Servicio Internacional para los Derechos Humanos (ISHR) expresan su profunda preocupación por el creciente deterioro de las instituciones democráticas en Venezuela.

Spanish Global civil society alliance, CIVICUS and the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) are deeply concerned about the continuing deterioration of democratic institutions in Venezuela.

Just three percent of people live in countries where the rights to protest, organise and speak out are respected, protected and fulfilled.

Spanish Sentence No.

CIVICUS speaks to Lyndal Rowlands, United Nations Bureau Chief at Inter Press Agency on what is “fake news”, its effect on civil society and how civil society can respond to it.

To Permanent Representatives of member and observer States of the United Nations Human Rights Council RE: Renewing the mandate of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan and addressing the need for accountability for past and on-going crimes under international law and human rights violations in South Sudan

The CIVICUS Fellowship Programme is an exciting new venture in which key experts will be placed into national and/or regional organisations for the period of two years.

To: Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the UN Human Rights Council RE: Sustaining attention to human rights violations in China Excellency, After another year marked by enforced disappearances, denial of due process, and continued efforts to suppress human rights, we call on your delegation to join with other States to take collective, coordinated action at the 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council to hold China accountable for its human rights record.

The Gambia has recently gone through a major democratic transition.

Spanish CIVICUS speaks to Alfredo Okenve, board member in charge of the International Cooperation and Good Governance Programmes of the Centre for Development Studies and Initiatives (CEID).

Update: 08 February 2017 A High Court judge granted Evan Mawarire bail of 300USD and ordered him to surrender his passport and report to Avondale Police station twice a week.

Economic and gender inequalities are at the core of the current challenges humankind is facing, and without tackling them, there is no chance that the SDGs will be achieved.

One year since the historic Paris Climate Change Agreement, over 20,000 leaders from government, business and civil society met in Marrakech, Morocco for the 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP22).

25 human rights organizations have signed an urgent appeal letter to Ms Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Vice-President of the EU Commission, to ask for a clear, public stance on Nabeel Rajab's case and the human rights abuses in Bahrain.

A survey of civil society organisations in Europe conducted  in early 2016  by Civil Society Europe and CIVICUS shows evidence of a shrinking civic space in Europe.

French | Spanish Global impact laid bare by the CIVICUS Monitor, a new online research tool that rates civic space around the world and documents violations of rights Governments shutting down civic space and shutting up dissenting voices Johannesburg, 24 October 2016 – More than three billion people live in countries where the rights to protest, organize and speak out are currently being violated according to the CIVICUS Monitor, the first-ever online tool to track and compare civic freedoms on a global scale.

Mozn Hassan is a courageous feminist and a human rights defender who protested with her fellow citizens to overthrow President Hosni Mubarak, calling for a new era of freedom and democracy in Egypt.